PlanetSKI Completes Ski Club GB Reps Course

sixteenth December 2024 | Simon Miller, Tignes.

‘Turn into a Ski Membership of Nice Britain Rep and ski the world for much less,’ I believed to myself as I signed up.

But it surely’s not fairly so simple as that.

The times are lengthy and exhausting on the snow, with a dose of classroom studying.

See right here for my article on the primary a part of the course with additional particulars:

Now it’s the enterprise finish of the course, the place we be taught if we now have handed or failed:

Every day a special side of being a resort Rep for Ski Membership members was taught and assessed.

One problem was whether or not we may handle a bunch of members safely and enjoyably across the mountain.

To check our suitability for this activity, we now have the membership chairman no much less, performing as a member while our group took turns to display Repping in motion.

When my flip comes I proffer choices to my group, however strongly recommend an on piste pitch to the subsequent elevate.

It’s all about making group selections in order that as a Rep you’re by no means performing like a information or chief.

There isn’t a dissent, so descend we do.

It seems hooping round with excessive velocity GS turns, was not the precise factor to do.

However when you may have a properly ready set of skis and empty, immaculately groomed slope presents itself there’s baby can do aside from “hit the afterburners” as my assessor put it.

I employed my skis with Intersport the place PlanetSKI readers can get a considerable low cost if booked on-line.

On the Premium package deal you may change your skis at will – excellent, as I may take piste skis on piste days and wider off piste ski once we had been into the powder.

I settled on a set of  Völkl Mantras, good for high-speed GS turns.

Maybe I ought to have picked up from our earlier classroom periods, {that a} extra conservative strategy was known as for, however hey ho.

A part of the Rep qualification consists of an American Avalanche Affiliation Stage 1 certificates.

It was fascinating stuff, a growing my mountain craft abilities was excessive on my listing of priorities from the course.

A few early morning two-hour classroom periods from Mike Austin, a professional mountain information, defined what causes avalanches and how you can learn the avalanche stories.

Important stuff if you’re heading off piste.

Ski Membership GB Reps Course, Tignes. Picture © PlanetSKI

Having spent years scoping for good strains to ski from the chairlift, I now have a larger appreciation of what appears to be like wise and how you can minimise threat.

Mike confirmed some horrific trying avalanche movies that jogged my memory of getting been in related conditions.

A sobering thought.

Placing our newly acquired avalanche data into observe began with digging a snow profile pit at 3,400m on a north-facing slope simply beneath a cliff with a stiff breeze including to the minus 15 levels.

Ski Membership GB Reps Course, Tignes. Picture © PlanetSKI

Lou Reynolds our information, and one in all solely a choose few feminine British mountain guides, set us to work digging away on the slope to show the historical past of the winter in snow layers.

Thanks Helly Hansen – even standing round slicing profiles, analyzing layers of snow and ice I used to be cocooned from the weather.

Ski Membership GB Reps Course, Tignes. Picture © PlanetSKI

My recommendation for anybody snowboarding as a Rep is to verify your equipment will hold you comfy it doesn’t matter what the climate – there’ll all the time be a minimum of a couple of members who wish to ski in all method of heinous climate.

Snow science is sophisticated stuff however an inexpensive understanding of the layers and what is going to possible slip is fairly essential.

After digging our profile, we prod and probe an remoted column of snow earlier than seeing how a lot stress it’ll soak up earlier than breaking away and inflicting a slide.

I received’t be in any nice hurry to dig snow pits to evaluate the avalanche threat, however I now know what guides are testing for when poking their pole handles by way of the snow.

Digging a snow pit takes some time out of your day – pushing your pole by way of the layers feeling for comfortable and exhausting sections will provide you with a fairly good indication of layers that may very well be problematic.

Ski Membership GB Reps Course, Tignes. Picture © PlanetSKI

An unlucky reality about avalanches is that they’re most probably to happen on slope angles which are optimum for snowboarding.

The irony being that studying the avalanche report to indicate the place the hazard is best, can also be more likely to present you the most effective snowboarding.

With this in thoughts the course included a few days snowboarding off piste in avalanche terrain, the place we discovered how you can determine particular hazards.

Snow construct up attributable to wind, slopes between 30 and 55 levels, prime avalanche gradients.

We discovered to cease at “islands of security” – knolls, ridges, behind boulders – in addition to when to ask the group to ski with huge gaps between every individual, in order that if one will get caught in an avalanche others are in a position to rescue them.

We observe these abilities with Lou retaining a watchful eye.

With the three parts of ski efficiency, group administration and avalanche security being examined, it seems my solely blemish was an inclination to ‘ski my very own line’.

My ski pals may have informed them that.

Tignes/Val d’Isere, France. Picture © PlanetSKI

This course is an intense, fulfilling 12 days, and I’m happy to say I handed.

The course ended with a celebratory meal, again slaps all spherical and with loads of Scots on the courser, free-flowing whisky.

At £3,000 plus elevate move it isn’t low cost, however for all of us who handed, it opens up Rep slots throughout 30 resorts all over the world the place board & lodging plus elevate move and a contribution in the direction of journey are lined.

If PlanetSKI readers are in any of those resorts say ‘good day’ to my Ski Membership of Nice Britain Rep colleagues and hopefully I’ll see you on the slopes.

I promise to not ‘activate the afterburners’.

Properly, possibly not.

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